Jalopy Scandal

Whooping out of a tavern in suburban New Rochelle, N.Y. at 3:30 a.m., four high-school-age boys hopped into a jalopy and set off up broad North Avenue. Soon they sighted an older friend driving another car and began to play. Weaving around, they managed to bump their friend's car twice--and caromed into a tree. All four boys were killed.

On the grounds of New Rochelle High School the totally wrecked jalopy was placed as a grim warning to the city's youth. And shocked parents and school officials learned that New Rochelle bars were an after-school hangout; that a survey showed 94% of high-school youngsters questioned drove or expected soon to drive cars; 28% of those who drove had no licenses; 57% had been in automobile accidents; "wrinkle fender" (i.e., automobile tag) was a popular game.

The Parent-Teacher Council staged a meeting of parents, policemen and schoolmen last week to consider what to do, decided that 1) New Rochelle parents had been too lenient with their children, 2) if their town had better recreational facilities, their youngsters might spend less time in bars and roadhouses. A curfew and parental ban on juvenile driving were proposed but quickly rejected as too hard to enforce. The parents temporized by agreeing to try to make their children come home earlier at night; police promised to shoo minors away from bars.

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